Wednesday

Aug 14, 2019 at 12:01 AMAug 14, 2019 at 5:33 AM

Ohio State University sophomore Zarah Fulay picked up a small silver container of peppermint essential oil and inhaled slowly, wafting the scent toward her face framed by pigtails and round gold glasses.

Fulay and other local college students weren’t just sniffing for their new favorite fragrance for their dorm rooms during a visit Tuesday to the Glenn Avenue Soap Co. on Columbus' Northwest Side. They were learning about the small business that sprouted here in their collegiate home, and about the soap found in the restrooms of more than 120 businesses around central Ohio.

It was one of nearly 40 Columbus landmarks and businesses that were filled with student leaders from colleges throughout the area on Tuesday as part of Ohio State’s Columbus Ambassadors Program. The aim is to familiarize local students with the Columbus community and the many things to do here.

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“I’ve lived here my whole life, and I didn’t know about all these things that I could bring my residents (to),” said Fulay, 19, of Hilliard, of her visits to the soap company and The Smithery, a metalsmith studio and jewelry store in Grandview Heights.

More than 700 student leaders from Ohio State University, Denison University, Ohio Dominican University, Columbus College of Art & Design, and Columbus State Community College departed from OSU's Ohio Union and descended on the city aboard more than 25 buses. The busloads of students went to different locations for the day, then came together again at the North Market to conclude the event.

Ohio State started the program about five years ago, and in more recent years, invited other local colleges to join in.

The program is important for a number of reasons, said Tracy Stuck, assistant vice president for student life at Ohio State. University organizers hope the day sparks ideas among the students, most of whom are responsible for planning programming for their peers as resident advisers or in other campus leadership roles, Stuck said. It’s also about getting the word out about what Columbus has to offer.

“All of these students are influencers,” Stuck said. “So they will go out and talk to their friends, and they’ll post on social media, and we’ll get more people out.”

Perhaps most importantly, university organizers and local officials want to show off Columbus, with the hope that students will stay here after they’ve received their diplomas.

“We want you to make Columbus a place that, in this time period, you’ll always cherish, and hopefully, later in life, as you’re building careers and families, you’ll consider doing it here in Columbus,” Alex Fischer, CEO and president of the Columbus Partnership, told students before they boarded the buses Tuesday. “We hope that you will call it your own, that you’ll call it home.”

Students visited such Columbus mainstays as the Franklin Park Conservatory, Mapfre Stadium, the Ohio History Connection, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. But other groups of students explored smaller local businesses and attractions, such as Dueling Axes, an ax-throwing lounge Downtown; Igloo Letterpress, a printing studio on the North Side, and Johnson’s Real Ice Cream in Bexley.

Students were divided into groups and didn’t know where they were going until they were on their way.

“It’s great,” said Cindy Frausto, a junior at Denison University in Granville who said she was pleasantly surprised to explore the Grandview area. “I’m actually originally from Austin, Texas, so I’m not very familiar with Columbus myself. ... This is actually really beneficial to me, so I know where to come" in Columbus.

Jordyn Harp, a senior at Ohio Dominican, said she always thought that Columbus had nothing to offer.

"I really like the fact that I’m exploring Columbus," Harp, 21, of Groveport, said of her visits to the Glenn Avenue Soap Co. and The Smithery. "I am introduced to stuff I never knew existed.”

jsmola@dispatch.com

@jennsmola

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